This was definitely a different storyline and I have to say it was written quite well. I loved the writing and the story, this is a very memorable book. I think that if you picknit up you will not be disappointed at all. A wonderful story to get caught up in.
I just reviewed The Book of Love by Kelly Link. #TheBookofLove #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

This is an interesting book. It has a little bit of everything in it . A surreal magical fantasy about three older teens that died and came back a year later set to task to find out how they died and how they came back. It’s told from various points of view. It’s not for everyone because it can be some what weird but I enjoy weird (it gave me Library at Mount Char vibes while reading). It is a long book (over 600 pages) but I felt like it moved along at a good pace and I didn’t feel like I was reading 600+ pages.

I really wanted to love this. I am a HUGE Kelly Link fan, but this wore me down. I felt like some of the characters could have been cut and I would have had the same story. I am glad people love it.

This absolutely gutted me and that’s all I can possibly bring myself to say for now… pick this book up. Seriously.

This book had such an interesting premise and I loved the blurb and the props from Leigh Bardugo et al. Unfortunately, after a really strong first chapter, the book immediately lost me with Laura's perspective. I didn't feel like I had enough context before diving into her confusing narrative. I won't be finishing this book.

Going tonhave to DNF this one. I'm supremely bored. An all vibes no plot type of book. If you liked Addie LaRue you'll probably like this one.

3.5/5, rounded to 4 stars

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing for providing me with an eARC of The Book of Love. See below for my honest review.

I am not going to fault this book for how long I took to finish it, I blame CC3 for putting me in a terrible reading slump.

The Book of Love is a winding, nonlinear tale of magic and love, loyalty and betrayal. Anabin and Bogomil may be one of my favorite literary couples. How sweet, to sit side by side for centuries without being able to look the other in the eye and speak your mind.

Our characters range from 3 high school students who died a year ago, the sister of one of those students, their music teacher (a wizard?), a wolf (also a wizard?), someone who died hundreds of years ago (but isn't that person really), and a goddess (also the moon). Got it? Good.

They have faults and flaws, because sometimes doing magic seems like a bad idea. Or sometimes it seems like a great idea and you do something that is maybe considered unethical. Maybe sometimes you would rather give up than keep trying! After all, you died once, so what's so bad about dying again?

The Book of Love is slower paced, but I found the climax to be well-deserved and extremely satisfying.

Thank you to Kelly Link, Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Random House, and Netgalley for this free advanced reader copy of "The Book of Love: A Novel" for an honest review.

This was my very first Kelly Link read, but recommended by so many familiar names, I couldn't help but take the plunge. The Book of Love is a dark fantasy novel set in the current day, in a town called Love's End, where magic has suddenly sprung afoot in the reappearance (/resurrection) of three missing children who are brought back but must take part in an esoteric and unrevealing game to win themselves the chance to stay alive.

The characters in this book feel so real—in their strengths and growths, but especially their humanity, complexity, and flaws. I fell a little in love with all the characters in it, even the ones you aren't supposed to like, and I was interested in all of their lives off the page, both before and after the novel takes place. I am definitely looking forward to more books by Kelly Link (and maybe even crossing my fingers for a sequel).

I'm not sure I can review this in a way that others haven't already. Yes, it's long, but it takes the time it needs to set up the characters and the action. It just didn't click for me, so I'm probably not the right reader (which makes choosing a star rating difficult).

What a puzzling book from Pulitzer finalist short story writer, Kelly Link. The story follows three teenagers who come back from the dead and are given supernatural tasks they must complete in order to remain among the living. Reading this novel felt like watching a season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I know Link must be doing that intentionally. There was something nostalgic about the feel of the book, even though the story was completely new to me. Like Buffy, Link is using supernatural terrors to comment on the terrors of teenagehood and the traumas of humanity. It’s well-written, funny, and occasionally profound, but it’s also muddled by its own length and the sheer moments of weird Link packs into it. Her weird is wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but when the Scottish heroine of a romance series materializes into the story around page 550 for seemingly no reason, I started to feel like it was overstuffed. Still, for all of my complaints, I great enjoyed this unwieldy tome and found Link’s themes truly moving.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

I did love this book, though it took me a bit to get through it. I found that there were sections I couldn't read fast enough, but also sections that I struggled a bit to finish. All in all, it's a beautifully written book.

Got really close to DNFing this at 66% and honestly kind of wish I had.

It's full of chopped-up POVs that constantly take you out of the action and repeat details to you over and over again. Similar to Fourth Wing, this feels like YA that's been stretched and (oh-so-mildly) sexed out to be branded as "adult" fiction instead.

There are some fun ideas here, so that saved it from 1 star — just barely, it's probably around 1.5 for me — but if you really want to read gods-messing-around-with-humans weirdness, then [book: The Library at Mount Char] will do that in much better fashion.

OH MY GOD WHAT A BOOK. This is EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING I had hoped for in a full novel from Kelly Link. It's magical, it's heartbreaking, it's probably the best book of the year.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Random House and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel.

Susannah is feeling out of sorts. Her sister Laura and her on again, off again boyfriend and fellow band mate Daniel disappeared a year ago, along with her friend Mo. Resigned that they are dead, she tries to get on with her life, only to have them re-appear after a year "studying music abroad in Ireland".

This is a fiction readily accepted by everyone but the three people in question, who are aware that they have been brought back from the dead and had spent that time in a shadowy realm, that they somehow escaped from and do not wish to go back to. A high school music teacher is not who he appeared to be, who tells them mysteriously, "2 will remain, 2 will return."

The Book of Love, by Kelly Link, is a strange but compelling novel. I wasn't sure where it was going to go. There's a lot of magic going on, and teenager angst and music. It was good but probably not to everyone's taste.

When I found out Kelly Link was (finally) publishing a novel I knew when I got it I would devour it. I definitely did just that but very slowly. I savored her exquisite dialogue and characters. I truly adored this book! I do think YMMV. This is not your typical fantasy book. It’s very slow and pretty long (over 600 pages) but to me every word, moment and character was necessary for this story to be told. The beginning is a bit disorienting, we open in a classroom and students have been brought back from the dead. How did they die? Why are they back? What is happening? However, if you’ve read Link before, then you know what you’re getting into and to enjoy the ride she will take you on. This book is beautiful and glorious and heartbreaking and I recommend it wholeheartedly to everyone willing to take risks and be patient in their reading.

I’ve been trying to get through this book for months.

I’m finally giving up.

Like most readers here, I love Link’s short fiction and was eagerly anticipating her debut novel. Unfortunately for me, THE BOOK OF LOVE reads a lot like a Joyce novel: it’s weird, far too long, and you don’t always know what’s happening.

At first I found the vignettes of each character (even the most minor characters, and the setting, which is a character, too) charming and inventive. But the character sketches kept coming, and the plot (thin as it was) never really went anywhere.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

“Everything we do is music. There are many kinds of love, and not all of them are built to last past the span of one romance novel, let alone a thousand years. But imagine a rose garden, winter, the sky clear and bright. Snow can’t keep falling forever.”

The Book of Love tells the story of Mo, Laura, and Daniel, three New England teens who have come back from the dead. Those around them believe they have been at a music school in Ireland; they are the only ones who remember that they have been dead for the last year. In their resurrection, they solve puzzles, meet several immortal beings, discover magic, grapple with love and loss, and make music.

Kelly Link’s foray into the novel is sprawling, beautiful, and unique. At 640 pages, this novel is longer than one might expect from a short story writer, and to be honest, a bit longer than it needs to be. As other reviewers have noted, the pace is slow, but it isn’t for a lack of things happening. It is more the writing itself, which is so lovely that it makes you want to stop and soak it in. There are several points, however, where it is overwritten, so overdone and quirky that it verges into the bad sort of weird. The plot can become this way as well, especially toward the end, including so much strangeness that it moves away from interesting and unique into too-much territory. But the good points of Link’s style overwhelm the negatives, creating vivid characters and descriptions that will stay with the reader for quite some time. I really enjoyed this one, and I think its characters will be difficult to let go. Four stars.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance copy.

This book has a captivating premise and the writing is gorgeous. The plot however, is so meandering that I can barely read a chapter at a time. It keeps switching POVs but we aren’t making any forward progress with the main premise. I might slowly keep reading as time allows, but that remains to be seen as I haven’t picked it up in a week and don’t feel like I want to either because reading it makes me tired.
I love books that are a mix of character driven and plot driven, especially those that allow for a lot of character growth. With The Book of Love, I don’t have enough information about one character to truly get invested before we are thrust into a separate character’s stream of consciousness. I was working hard to gather plot crumbs and I’m left with cute anecdotes that don’t seem to do anything other than show that individuals have deep inner lives. Nice. But what about the whole ‘OMG we’re back thing?’ Nothing yet? Great. -_-
I read other reviews in hopes to be encouraged, but sadly a lot of other readers feel the same way. So, it’s goodbye for now Book of Love. I want to know what happens, but not bad enough to fight my way through plot brambles.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book for review.

Thank you Random House, NetGalley, and Kelly Link for the honor of getting to read this amazing first book. I was honestly blown away by the storytelling and the incredible characters that inhabit the setting Kelly Link has created. The story centers around three teenagers who disappeared a year ago and have suddenly reappeared in the middle of their music teacher’s classroom late one night. But that is just the beginning of many weird and unexpected things that start to happen in this delightful supernatural book about life and death and love. When they are told they have to find a magical item and only two of them will remain living things really get intense, especially when a goddess comes to town demanding that said item belongs to her. Even worse, she has no qualms about destroying their family and friends to get what she wants so now it’s a race to see who can find the magical item and save everyone. I definitely recommend this book to everyone that enjoys fantasy and books about friends beating the odds.